New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday slammed an Israeli real estate expo at a local synagogue one day earlier, which had been promoting homes and land in the occupied West Bank.
The United Nations maintains that the Israeli occupation since 1967 is illegal, and by extension, so are settlements constructed in the area. Population transfers are prohibited by the Geneva Conventions.
"When we have a real estate expo that is promoting the sale of land, which includes the sale of land in occupied West Bank in settlements that are a violation of international law, that is something that I firmly disagree with," the mayor told reporters.
"I also believe that many New Yorkers firmly disagree with [it] because it has been at the heart of an ongoing effort to displace Palestinians from their homes," he added.
On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters convened by the group, Palestinian Assembly for Liberation (Pal-Awda), gathered near the Park East Synagogue to protest against the second such event at the site since November.
Event organisers at the synagogue promoted properties in the settlements of Kfar Eldad and Karnei Shomron, as well as tax and mortgage advice for buyers.
But protesters were kept a block away from the event by a heavy police presence and barricades.